For farm women, performing backbreaking tasks using traditional methods creates occupational health hazards. Their drudgery and physical exertion peaks during Kharif and Rabi seasons because they usually lack access to women-friendly farm tools and equipment. Well-designed and targeted interventions to introduce women-friendly, ergonomic farm tools and equipment could help. A project titled ‘Empowering women farmers through promotion of gender-friendly farm equipment’ was conceived in collaboration among Mahindra and Mahindra, the International Council of Agricultural Research, Central Institute for Women in Agriculture and PRADAN in 2018.

The project was initiated in Mayurbhanj and Koraput districts of Odisha. It was found that most women use a traditional sickle and spade for agricultural operations. Women farmers spent most of their time on farms transplanting, weeding, preparing the land for sowing seeds, and harvesting. On an average 738.84 hours of work is put in by each woman during kharif season for paddy cultivation.  In order to help reduce women’s drudgery in paddy, ragi (millet) and vegetables, gender-based farm implements were introduced to increase their work efficiency and income. Demonstration was organized for familiarization with the operation, repair and maintenance of these gender-friendly farm tools, like power weeder, hauler, thresher, sprayer and various other advanced machines. They have adopted the markers, transplanter for transplanting, mandwa weeder and finger weeder for weeding in paddy and vegetables, sickle for harvesting, thresher and winnower for harvesting and post-harvest operation, hanging type grain cleaner for cleaning grains in a large number. Women farmer for the first time has access and control over farm tools and confidently began using those. In tribal pockets women farmers are breaking stereo types of using sprayer. Earlier the tools were mostly used by the men members in the family. As use of farm tools reduced their wok time, it gave them to opportunity to have more leisure.

• Prerna by Mahindra aimed to empower women in agriculture through promotion of efficient and ergonomic farm tools and equipments through well-designed targeted interventions.
• A collaboration between Mahindra & Mahindra, Central Institution for Women in Agriculture (CIWA) - a department of Government of India’s Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action.
• First phase, launched in Odisha, reached out to more than 2500 families across 42 villages.
• Introduced a contest to crowdsource ideas from general public on ways to improve the lives of women in agriculture